Peter Zschech

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 36)

Successes
1 ship sunk, total tonnage 7,173 GRT

Born	1 Oct 1918		Constantinople, Turkey
Died	24 Oct 1943	(25)	North Atlantic

Ranks

3 Apr 1936		Offiziersanwärter
10 Sep 1936		Seekadett
1 May 1937		Fähnrich zur See
1 Jul 1938		Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Oct 1938		Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1940		Oberleutnant zur See
1 Apr 1943		Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

21 Dec 1939		Iron Cross 2nd Class
19 Oct 1940		Destroyer War Badge
31 Dec 1941		U-boat War Badge 1939
12 Apr 1942		Iron Cross 1st Class

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-505	6 Sep 1942	24 Oct 1943 (+)	7 patrols (118 days, * died during this patrol)

Peter Zschech joined the Kriegsmarine in 1936, and was part of the Olympia Crew. He was a watch officer on the destroyer Z 7 Hermann Schoemann July 1939 - April 1940, and then Z 14 Friedrich Ihn, April - Oct. 1940. He commenced U-boat training in Oct. 1940 and was assigned to U-124 (Mohr) as a Watch Officer in August 1941.

He served on U-124 during Mohr’s first four very successful patrols (22 ships sunk and three damaged). After this valuable experience he underwent Commander Training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla at Memel August – early Sept. 1942 before taking over command of U-505 (Loewe) on 6 Sept. 1942.

Peter Zschech thus had an excellent grounding for U-boat command and great things were expected of him. He failed to live up to these high expectations and was, according to many accounts, not well liked by his crew. Repeated sabotage discovered at the start of the patrol which forced a return to port on several occasions must also have affected his morale.

During almost 14 months in command he spent only 96 days at sea during six patrols (three of which, in August 1943, were abortive one-day attempts). Only the first patrol, of 69 days, proceeded without incident and during it he sank his only ship, the 7,173 ton British merchant Ocean Justice, sunk without casualties off South America.

While outbound east of the Azores on 24 Oct. 1943 U-505 came under heavy depth charge attack. Peter Zschech apparently broke down and took his own life with his service pistol in the control room of the boat. The IWO, Oblt. Paul Mayer (26 years of age), took command, evaded the pursuers and returned the boat to Lorient on 7 Nov. 1943.

The approximate location of the boat during the attack

Sources

Busch, R. & Röll, H. (1999). German U-boat Commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Peter Zschech

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-505	4 Oct 1942	Lorient	12 Dec 1942	Lorient	Patrol 1,	70 days
2.	U-505	1 Jul 1943	Lorient	13 Jul 1943	Lorient	Patrol 2,	13 days
3.	U-505	1 Aug 1943	Lorient	2 Aug 1943	Lorient	Patrol 3,	2 days
4.	U-505	14 Aug 1943	Lorient	15 Aug 1943	Lorient	Patrol 4,	2 days
5.	U-505	21 Aug 1943	Lorient	22 Aug 1943	Lorient	Patrol 5,	2 days
6.	U-505	18 Sep 1943	Lorient	30 Sep 1943	Lorient	Patrol 6,	13 days
7.	U-505	9 Oct 1943	Lorient	7 Nov 1943	Lorient	Patrol 7,	16 days	*
7 patrols, 118 days at sea * Peter Zschech died during this patrol on 24 Oct 1943